Red Wings Take Mrazek to Salary Arbitration

After the restricted free agent arbitration window came and went and only one of Detroit's big restricted free agents was on it, there were questions about would he be signed by another team to an offer sheet.

The Detroit Red Wings quashed that notion by filing for arbitration on Mrazek which prevent him from signing an offer sheet with another team. Mrazek's camp and the Red Wings will negotiate to attempt to avoid the salary arbitration meeting. Meetings are scheduled between July 20 and August 4.

Just by looking a the Detroit Red Wings salary cap situation you can see how there may be an issue in the negotiation process. The Red Wings have a little over $4 million in cap space. Meanwhile Mrazek, who appears to be in line to be the number one goalie, would be on a roster with another goalie who makes north of $5 million on the cap a year.

This is why the Red Wings didn't want to risk Mrazek getting a high offer sheet and possibly lose him.

As mentioned in a previous piece, the last time Ken Holland has gone to an arbitration meeting with a player is 2009. So look for a deal to get done before a third party has to get involved on Mrazek.